Flowcopter (hydraulic drone)

2022: Creating a drone

At the end of February 2022, Flowcopter announced the world's first hydraulic drone, which is designed to eliminate the shortcomings of conventional drones, such as flight range and payload weight. The estimated flight time of the vehicle is up to six hours, the flight range is up to 900 km, and for short-range flights it can carry a payload of 150 kg.

As noted in a press release, the creation of an unmanned aerial vehicle (UAV) Flowcopter was inspired by the decision of the Royal National Lifeboat Institute of Great Britain ( RNLI) to create a companion drone to solve the problem of marine lifeboats. As of February 2022, the UAV is the only equipment capable of satisfying extreme requirements for flight range and carrying capacity in marine conditions. The cost of UAVs from Flowcopter is less than $1 thousand.

The world's first hydraulic drone has been developed. It can fly 900 km

UAVs can have different degrees of autonomy from remotely controlled to fully automatic ones, as well as differ in design, purpose and many other parameters. The main advantage of UAVs is the significantly lower cost of their creation and operation.

Flowcopter uses certified aircraft internal combustion engines instead of low-density lithium batteries to generate more energy to increase load capacity and flight range, while maintaining vehicle stability in the air. The motors drive the Digital Disposal pumps, which distribute and regulate the hydraulic flow to maintain the balance of the drone and the operation of the hydraulic motors of the 96 kW air device. With them, it is possible to adjust the hydraulic flow between several engines, instantly responding to digital control commands, which is very important for balancing the flying UAV. The power of each such engine is 130 liters. from. with a weight of 5.5 kg. The company claims that no electric drone even comes close to Flowcopter in terms of flight range and carrying capacity.^[1]

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